Trademark IAS : 2011

In each of the following antonym questions, a word printed in capital letters precedes five lettered words or phrases. From these five lettered words or phrases, pick the one most nearly Opposite in meaning to the capitalized word.

1. PARIAH: 2. EXACERBATE:

(A) miser (A) alleviate

(B) nomad (B) bewilder

(D) idol (D) intimidate

(E) renegade (E) economize

Each of the following sentence completion questions contains one or two blanks. These blanks signify that a word or set of words has been left out. Below each sentence are five words or sets of words. For each blank, pick the word or set of words that best reflects the sentence’s overall meaning.

3. Although he was generally considered an extremely _________individual, his testimony at the trial revealed that he had been very_____.

(A) intrepid…valiant (B) guileless…hypocritical (C) abstemious…temperate

(D) meek…timorous (E) ingenuous…obtuse.

4. The perpetual spinning of particles is much like that of a top, with one significant difference; unlike the top, the particles have no need to be wound up, for _____is one of their ___________properties.

(A) revolution…radical (B) motion…intangible (C) rotation….intrinsic

(D) acceleration….lesser (E) collision…hypothetical

Each of the following analogy questions presents a related pair of words linked by a colon. Five lettered pairs of words follow the linked pair. Choose the lettered pair of words whose relationship is most like the relationship expressed in the original linked pair.

5. DEFLECT: MISSILE:: 6. MULISH: PLIANCY::

(A) defend : fortress (A) piggish : gluttony

(B) reflect : mirror (B) sluggish : reluctance

(D) dismantle: equipment (D) apish : servility

(E) distract : attention (E) shrewish : amiability

Read the following passage

How is a newborn star formed? For the answer to this question, we must look to the familiar physical concept of gravitational instability. It is a simple concept, long-known to scientists, having been first recognized by Isaac Newton in the late 1600s.

Let us envision a cloud of interstellar atoms and molecules, slightly admixed with dust. This could of interstellar gas is static and uniform. Suddenly, something occurs to disturb the gas, causing one small area within it to condense. As this small area increases in density, becoming slightly denser than the gas around it, its gravitational field likewise increases somewhat in strength. More matter now is attracted to the area, and its gravity becomes even stronger, as a result, it starts to contract, in the process increasing in density even more. This in turn further increases its gravity, so that it accumulates will more matter and contracts further still. And so the process continues, until finally the small area of gas gives birth to a gravitationally bound object, a newborn STAR.

Answer the following qs.

7. It can be inferred from the passage that the author views the information contained within it as—

(A) controversial but irrefutable

(B) speculative and unprofitable

(D) original but obscure E) sadly lacking in elaboration.

8. The author provides information that answers which of the following questions?

I. How does the small area’s increasing density affect its gravitational field?

II. What causes the disturbance that changes the cloud from its original static state?

III. What is the end result of the gradually increasing concentration of the small area of

gas?

(A) I only (B) II only (C) I and II only (D) I & III only (E) I, II & III

Reading Comprehension:

The Quechua world is submerged, so to speak, in a cosmic magma that weighs heavily upon it. It possesses the rare quality of being as it were interjected into the midst of antagonistic forces, which in turn implies as a whole body of social and aesthetic structures whose innermost meaning must be the administration of energy. This gives rise to the social organism known as the ayllu, the agrarian community that regulates the procurement of food. The ayllu formed the basic structure of the whole Inca Empire.

The central idea of this organization was a kind of closed economy, just the opposite of our economic practices, which can be described as open. The closed economy rested on the fact that the Inca controlled both the production and consumption of food.

When one adds to this fact the religious ideas noted in the Quechua texts cited by the chronicler Santa Cruz Pachacuti, one comes to the conclusion that in the Andean zone the margin of life was minimal and was made possible only by the system of magic the Quechua constructed through his religion. Adversities, moreover, were numerous, for the harvest might fail at any time and bring starvation to millions. Hence, the whole purpose of the Quechua administrative and ideological system was to carry on the arduous task of achieving abundance and staving off shortages. This kind of structure presupposes a state of unremitting anxiety, which could not be resolved by action. The Quechua could not do so because his primordial response to problems was the use of magic, that is, recourse to the unconscious for the solution of external problems.

Thus the struggle against the world was a struggle against the dark depths of the Quechua’s own psyche, where the solution was found. By overcoming the unconscious, the out world was also vanquished. These considerations permit us to classify Quechua culture as absolutely static or, more accurately, as the expression of a mere state of being. Only in this way can we understand the refuge that it took in the germinative centre of the cosmic mandala as revealed by Quechua art.

The Quechua Empire was nothing more than a mandala, for it was divided into four zones, with Cuzco in the centre. Here the Quechua ensconced himself to contemplate the decline of the world as though it were caused by an alien and autonomous force.

28. The term “mandala” as used in the last paragraph most likely means—

(A) an agrarian community (B) a kind of superstition

(E) a figure composed of four divisions.

29. The author implies that the Quechua world was—

(A) uncivilized (B) highly introspective

(E) well organized

30. With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?

(A) Only psychological solutions can remedy economic ills.

(B) The Quechua were renowned for equanimity and unconcern.

(D) Much of Quechua existence was harsh and frustrating.

(E) Modern Western society should adopt some Quechua economic ideas.

In the following questions, choose the best answer from the five choices listed:

31. If 80% of the adult population of a village is registered to vote, and 60% of those registered actually voted in a particular election, what percent of the adults in the village and NOT vote in that election?

(a) 20 (b) 40 (c) 48 (d) 50 (e) 52

32. If ¾ of a number is 7 more than 1/6 of the number; what is 5/3 of the

number?

(A) 12 (B) 15 (C) 18 (D) 20 (E) 24

33. Which of the following points lies in the interior of the circle whose radius

is 10 and whose center is at the origin?

(A) (-9, 4) (B) ( 5, -9) (C) (0, -10) (D) (10,-1) (E) (-6,8)

Trademark IAS

Friday, August 19, 2011

Success in IAS Prelims 2011

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Congratulations

Friday, April 22, 2011

Prelims 2011 : Test Series